Reborn as an Extra

Chapter 813: World Unification Party. Part-1.

Year 2066. Maiquella (Astrum) Continent.

In a small unnamed town near the southwestern border of the yet-to-exist unified human empire, a young man about 15 years old was sitting in a corner of a dark alley.

His blue hair were covered in mud, and his dark blue eyes were filled with numbness and gave off a feeling that they were devoid of life.

Just from looking at the tattered clothes of the young man and his skinny body that seemed to be suffering from severe malnutrition, it was easy to guess that he was a beggar with no home or future to speak of.

Many passersby walked on the wide road and passed by the dark alley, but no one paid any attention to the young beggar sitting there in the darkness.

Even if someone did notice him, all they did was just shake their head in disgust and move away from him.

In the current chaotic world, humanity was plagued with internal and external conflicts due to the sudden descent of mana.

Humanity as a whole was in a constant struggle with the other races for resources; the scene of children becoming orphans and then being reduced to beggars was nothing new.

Awakeners were being treated like cannon fodder and were sent into the meat grinders as soon as they were discovered.

Even adult and capable men were often drafted into armies forcefully, even if they weren’t awakeners, just for the sake of bolstering the armed forces.

In such a chaotic time, it was already hard for people to take care of themselves and their families, so it was impossible for anyone to care about the beggars dying in a random corner of the town.

Young Maher was one such beggar.

He never knew who his father was, as his mother was a prostitute that worked in the red-light district to survive in this chaotic time.

He was just a mistake that was born out of an accident; even his own mother had no love in her heart for him, and he was soon abandoned by her before he even became five.

Wandering in the slums, eating rats to survive, using broken steel bars to impale friends and then gorging on their innards, young Maher had done everything he could to survive in the dog-eat-dog environment of the slums.

By the age of twelve, he had already established his own small gang and was, as his lackeys often called him, ’Maher,’ which meant ’Proficient’ because of his high proficiency in pickpocketing and robbery.

Young Maher had a name given to him by his mother, but he did not like using it, as it reminded him of his humiliating past and origin, so he accepted the name ’Maher’ readily.

Just when he thought that life was getting better and better, tragedy struck once again, and a sudden fight with a rival gang in the slums left him crippled for life.

His gang members were just slum children with no training or abilities; they were just a random bunch of hooligans that had only recently banded together for the sake of profits.

In front of those old gangs, they were nothing but ants that could be crushed at any moment.

In the gang war, most of Maher’s lackeys either died horribly from having their heads smashed with bricks or ended up crippled for life.

As the leader of the gang, he was treated even more horribly; his limbs were broken beyond repair, and he was hit on the back of his neck so many times that he was almost driven to complete paralysis for life!

The only reason he was left alive was because they wanted him to suffer more and not die so easily.

At the age of 15, when other children live with their families and go to school, young Maher was now sitting in a dark alley with a broken body that could barely move by crawling like a pathetic worm.

There was no hope left in his eyes; there were dreams left in his mind, and bit by bit he was losing his sanity.

Young Maher knew that humans were cruel creatures because he had spent his entire life in the slums where only strength mattered the most; he knew that being a criminal would not yield him a good outcome.

But for the sake of filling the hungry stomach, for the sake of survival, young Maher had no other choice but to do what he could.

And just like he had feared, his outcome was horrific to say the least.

Instead of living in despair every day like a rotten pile of garbage near the corner of the road that no one wanted to see, he would have preferred to die with the rest of his lackeys and go to the afterlife with them.

Unfortunately, even death did not like him and refused to embrace him, causing him immense suffering.

Despite wishing for death several times every single day, it did not come to him, and he could only live on in despair.

Just when Young Maher was about to slide off into the depths of the abyss of despair, a sudden ray of light shone in his dark world.

A young man around the same age suddenly appeared in front of him.

Unlike the other people on the road who ignored him and felt disgusted at him, that young man smiled brightly while looking at him.

His golden hair seemed like they were shining like the light of the sun in the darkness, and his dark golden pupils seemed like they were carrying the warmth of the sun itself!

Looking at that kind smile and radiating aura of warmth and kindness, even the hollow eyes of young Maher could not help but light up with expectation and hope.

"You are a hard man to find, Ivan Maher. Begging... a man of your talents? You can’t be serious. You are better than this, Ivan."

"Come with me, Ivan. We have better things to do in this world than letting our lives rot away like this."

The golden-haired young man seemed to know his name as if he had met him before, and even his way of talking seemed like he was talking to an old friend.

Although Ivan had never met this person, oddly enough, he didn’t feel anything odd at the moment and even felt that he was meeting a long-forgotten old friend.